Xai'athi (Redux)
The Xai'athi are an abhuman race located in the far galactic east, within the Eastern Fringe of the the galaxy. They were created by Binadamu Madora (known as the Mtawala today), who fled Terra in M3, after he after he was charged with crimes against humanity by the ruling powers of that time. The Xai'athi are constructed not from organic cells, but countless trillions hyper-advanced nanites, the results of which are impossible to replicate with current technology. The Xai'athi are xenophobic isolationists, colonizing worlds humans and aliens would normally find uninhabitable. Their empire, known as the Xai Ascendancy, is a massive a thousand system empire, using the kind of technology humanity would find incomprehensible to understand. The Xai'athi want nothing to do with the on-goings of the galaxy, have made their standing quite clear, by making an example of traspassers who stray to far into Xai'athi territory. Such is the power of the Xai'athi, that they have earned the respect of a few Eldar. The Ordo Xenos of the Inquisition has labelled the Xai'athi race, Xeno Horrificus, primarily because of the size and power of the Xai'athi, and the fact that they are led by god-like figures known as the Novensiles, who wield absolute authority of the Xai'athi. A surprising move considering the fact the Xai'athi aren't xenos. Led by the Mtawala, the Novensiles and the Xai'athi seem bent on conquering the Imperium, and removing the threats of xenos and daemons from the galaxy. History 'Creation' Biology All Xai'athi the genetic desendents of the Novensiles. They were created using the genetic material taken from Binadamu, Caria, Dieujuste, and Belisari, making the Xai'athi the actual children of the Novensiles. The Xai'athi biology is built around the use of Nishatium, a black fluid of nanites, and the heavy use of genetic manipulation. They are typically between 1.8 to 2 meters in height, and have dark brown skin and jet black hair. They have jet black eyes and pupils (due to the nishatium), and luminescent irises, ranging from purple and red, the most common colors, to blue, yellow, and grey, caused by the excess energy produced by the nanites in their brain. The blood of the Xai'athi in made up of nishatium, which allows the Xai'athi to regenerated limbs and organs at a quick rate. Xai'athi can live without their heads, as the body stores all the memories and the personality in the rest of the nanites. The head has been shown to sprout nanite tenticles, and attempt to crawl back to the body. They have long, black, retractable tongue, which can stretch upwards to about four meters. It can cut unprotected flesh, and posion the victim with the Xai'athi's toxic saliva (which is also acidic). The Xai'athi's teeth are noted for being extremely sharp, and almost metallic. They have larger canines, and can inject venom into the body of a target (a more concentrated version of their saliva). The Xai'athi are immune to most diseases, and are appearently incapable of feeling pain. Their skin is very resilent, and can sustain cuts and bruises, as well as blunt truama. Their skeletal system in made out of a metallic substance known as Nullium, a black metal that can sustain tremendous amounts of punishment, and is non-corrosive, non-conductive, and non-magentic. Because of their heightened endurance, the Xai'athi can lift two to three times their body weight, and survive falls of up to 200 feet. Due to the unique properties of their body, a Xai'athi can produce a weapon out of their body, but as this is quick difficult without training, only the more elite of their race can this. The knowledge on the internal makeup of the Xai'athi is mostly unknown, but it is known that they have two hearts, and a three devices in their spine that can restart those hearts if they stop beating. The Xai'athi having no lungs that can be acertained, and since the Xai'athi appearently do not breath, they can survive in the vacuum of space. Xai'athi do not age, as they lack the cells which slowly die as time passes. There is no record of a Xai'athi dying of natural causes, save for those related to war, accident, or in the rarest of cases, disease. The Xai'athi are capable of consuming posionous items, and even consuming other sentient beings. They have perfect recall, and can see perfectly well during the night. Xai'athi produce no waste, as everything is transformed into energy, and they do not sweat, as their nanites adapt to the envioment, changing the body temperture when needed, also, female Xai'athi have no menestration period. The gestation rate is somewhere around three to four months, the process being sped up by the nanites. The Xai'athi have the ability to mate with any species, and have a special gene which cause every pregancy to result in a Xai'athi birth. This allows the Xai'athi breed out a species without resulting to full-blown genocide, though many races apperently see no difference in either. Society 'Culture' 'Psykers' All psykers of the Xai'athi are restricted to priest castes within their species. Binadamu arranged the genetics of the Xai'athi so that psykers born into the species would belong to such castes, allowing him to control those with psychic powers, and preventing Chaos from gaining a foothold in his race. Such psykers are trained in temples, monasteries, or academies, where older psykers pass on their skills and experience, allowing the new generation of psykers to grow in power. The way in which they are train is unknown, but it is reckoned that the Xai'athi's psyker population is becoming deadlier and deadlier with each new generation, and it is unknown how. Gods of the Xai'athi The Xai'athi worship the Imperial Family who rules the Ascendancy. The Imperial Family, known as the Novensiles, or the New Gods, is made up of the most powerful psykers known to the Xai'athi species. The Novensiles rule as the holy masters of the species, governing a certain aspect of the Xai'athi's lives, and dictating what is holy and sacred, and what is to be despised. 'The Pantheon' The Pantheon of the Xai'athi is made up of the entire race of Novensiles, which is itself, made up entirely of members from the Madora Family. The Pantheon governs the actions of the Xai'athi people, and guides their day-to-day lives, ensuring that all of their children taken care. Novensiles live in a massive city known as Aliquam Divina, built entirely out of Castium, a marble-like stone. It is the religious capital of the Xai'athi civilization, and home to all of their most sacred items and devices. 'Binadamu Madora' Binadamu Madora, better known as the Mtawala, is the supreme deity of the Xai'athi race, and the superior to all of the Novensiles. His word is law, and no one disputes his orders. He runs the Xai Ascendancy with an iron fist, but in such a way that all Xai'athi feel that they are loved by him. He hates those who attempt the harm his children, and during the Perseus Crusades in M41, he lead his troops to victory, and massacred the Imperial generals that slaughtered Xai'athi during their march to Juno. Binadamu wears a gleming suit of powered armor which is near industructible, and reinforced by his psychic powers. His helmet is fashioned to depict an ancient god of humanity from the region he came from. It is rumored that he never takes it off, but Binadamu has appeared a few time without it. Such is Binadamu's psychic power, that he has taken personal command of entire Xai'athi armies from several thousands of lightyears away, and leading to victory as such. Xai'athi like to say he was the God Emperor's rival, but Binadamu has never denied nor confirmed these rumors. Binadamu is by far the only human other than the Emperor, who has come close to becoming a god. Binadamu's drive to become immortal has clouded has vision many times, and even led to multiple defeats in the past. He is easily angered by those who call him a fool for his attempts to gain godhood, and can be easily chafed by those who find his visions unrealistic. Currently, Binadamu can essentially be called a "god", as he worshipped by the Xai'athi, and the psychic powers he wields are rather god-like in their usage. However, nothing but true godhood will placate Binadamu, and he continues to drive the Xai'athi into the ultimate goal of ascension. His presence aspires dread and awe, giving on-lookers a clear reason to fear him, and rightfully so. 'Caria Madora' Binadamu's wife and queen, Caria is the second most powerful of the Novensiles, but only slightly so. Her rival, Dieujuste, fights over who deserves more attention from Binadamu. Caria believes that she should as she is his wife, and is his consort. Dieujuste, Binadamu's half-brother, hates her, and has attempted to kill her on several occasions. Caria's control of the Xai'athi is second to Binadamu's, and her presence commands the upmost respect from her servents. Caria's personality is that of cruel polietness, and an almost cold seriousness that scares the fools who attempt to challenge her. She is a psyker without peer, gazing into the future with clarity that is nearly unrivalled by others. She is thus the perfect compliment to Binadamu, a pairing that even Dieujuste admits is appropriate for the man. Caria is a keen warrior as well, commanding armies of her own, and leading them with ruthless effientency that strikes and terror and awe into the hearts of her opponents. She is the woman people love to hate, and hate to love. Binadamu has granted Caria enormous power over the daily running of Juno, as he himself is occupied with the search for power artifacts left behind from the time of the Old Ones. Thus, anyone living on Juno must anwser to Caria. Her reign of Juno can been seen as violent, brutal, and harsh. She hates the Eldar slaves of Xai'athi, and has gone out of her to make their lives as difficult as possible. When the Great Eldar Slave Rebellion broke out in M30, Caria led the offensive on the slave bases, killing ever man, woman, and child that caught her, striking them down with bolts of lightning so powerful, that it desentigrated anyone within a five meter radius. Her rage poured out over the worlds that she conquered, and left a permanent mark on the planets she re-conquered. Any world unfortunate enough to have Caria as a visitor would find itself locked in a permanent hailstorm, racked by lightning storms, causing numerous deaths to the populace. 'Dieujuste Archambeau' The scheming advisor to Binadamu, and ruler of the Nerada, Dieujuste Archambeau despises his minor role in the Ascendancy, and feels that he is wasted potential. He and Caria hate each other to the extreme. He has attempted to kill Caria on a number of occasions, and Caia has attempted the same. Dieujuste's hatred of Caria stems from the fact that Caria claims a position that he believes is his, being that of serving as Binadamu's second-in-command. He and Belisari have tried to rid themselves of their sister-in-law, but Binadamu has kept the fighting to a minimium, and Dieujuste has been discipled many time. As a psyker, Dieujuste is Caria's equal, and second only to Binadamu as far as military prowess is concerned. He serves primarily as the Director of the Xai'athi's intelligence agencies, and thus has vital information on the weaknesses their people before Binadamu. Though he could try to use this as a way to take over the Ascendancy, he feels that position is best left in Binadamu's hands. Dieujuste keeps his opinions to himself, simply bidding his time until Caria slips up, at which point he will strike. Dieujuste's Nerada children are just as stuffy and pompous as their father, holding themselves to a higher regard than the other Xai'athi, which rightfully angers the others. The Xai'athi see Dieujuste as their god of death, presiding over the massive necropolis' that fill the Ascendancy, where the dead await their resurrection. He has called upon the death to fight for the Xai'athi numerous times in the past, such during the Perseus Crusades, re-animating slain Xai'athi to fight once more. Imperials watching the actions were horrified as the legions of dead Xai'athi marched on their positions. 'Belisari Madora' The Queen of Aegyptus, and sister to Binadamu, Belisari is fourth and final of the Xai'athi gods. She hates Caria with the same passion as her half-brother Dieujuste. However, unlike Dieujuste, who's anger in directed at Caria position of power, Belisari's is directed at Caria's position in Binadamu's life, a place Belisari feels that no woman other than herself should have. Every since her birth, Belisari monopolizied the position of female companion to Binadamu, pushing away any women who came to close to Binadamu. When he got married, that position was taken away from Belisari, and that didn't sit well with her. Belisari is a power psyker, which while not as powerful as the other three, is most powerful psyker of the Khepri people, and the fourth most powerful person in the Ascendancy. Belisari is a jealous women, and covets anything that will bring power. Much like her brother, Belisari's quest to gain godhood sometimes blinds her to the suffering of her people, leading her to put aside her sympathy for the Khepri for personal gain. Belisari can best be described a dangerously lethal beauty, who's love for self outweighs common sense. Technology The technological level of the Xai'athi is at a point where even the Eldar have no clue as to how Xai'athi weapons and devices operate. It is believed that their technology is tuned to the Xai'athi's psychic frequency, allowing it to operate. However, as the only psykers in the Xai'athi in the special shaman and priest castes, that hypothesis has been ruled out. What is known is that all Xai'athi devices, weapons, ships, and cities, are built out of Nullium, a metal that can be molded into anything a smith desires. It comes in several colors, each having a different property and function. All devices are powered Nishatium, a glowing liquid that comes in blue and purple, both having the purposes, but different uses. The Xai'athi stupify observers who are confused by the sheer power a Xai'athi can summon for any purpose, such as creating new worlds to their liking, new species, and for the most powerful of their race, new stars. The Mtawala has restricted the use of such technology, regulating it, and leaving it in the hands of his trusted servents. 'Weapons' 'Travel' After a short stint with Warp travel, the Xai'athi felt that it was too dangerous, even for them and their advanced technology. Thus, the Xai'athi saught to develop a new form of travel that would lessen the time they spent in space, and give them a level of superiorty over other races around them. Thus, around M12, a Xai'athi by the name of Nassor Kurenga created the Nodedrive, a near flawless FTL drive that worked by opening a tunnel into a seperate realm of space, and moving through that region. The Nodedrive completely bypassed the Warp, and unlike ships utilizing Warp drives, the Nodedrive needed no psychic Navigators, and simply operated by connecting to areas of space together through a Nodetube, and funneling the ship and it's crew from point A to point B. Nothing fancy about it, and no obvious flaws aside from energy requirements, which were meet by it's Nishatium fuel cells. Note from the Author This is the version of the Xai'athi I had orginally planned. It had nothing to do with Warhammer 40,000, having been concieved and written many years before I discovered the universe of 40k (about four years ago). I've adapted this version to the Warhammer universe to see how it will play out. If this version of the Xai'athi appeals to the rest of you, then I will replace current article of the Xai'athi with this one. Category:Storage Category:Copyright